Baxter State Park - Reservations

Baxter State Park has updated their website with a page that lists Campsite Availability

click on the "Campsite Availability" link here:

http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com/news/index.html

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wicked awesome avatar. congrats on that. thanks for the Baxter link.

Maybe I missed it, but is there a indication on what sites are "locked out" for the Maine resident sites that are held 2 weeks in advance?

Wow. Roaring Brook sold out thru Sept. Looks like a re-think of Ktaadn this year.

Anyone have experience of motelling it from Millinocket, or where-ever???

rup said:

Wow. Roaring Brook sold out thru Sept. Looks like a re-think of Ktaadn this year.

Anyone have experience of motelling it from Millinocket, or where-ever???

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I believe there is a private campground near the entrance. McRat mentioned it because he saw they had pay showers and he thought it might be worth a trip out of the park .

Brian

NewHampshire said:

I believe there is a private campground near the entrance. McRat mentioned it because he saw they had pay showers and he thought it might be worth a trip out of the park

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They do, and they're well worth the price, but it's a LONG drive from anywhere in the park on the Tote Road back through the gate to there.

NewHampshire said:

I believe there is a private campground near the entrance. McRat mentioned it because he saw they had pay showers and he thought it might be worth a trip out of the park .Brian

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There's also a campground at Abol Bridge. As for showers, in summer there's the more rustic alternative of swimming in the ponds and there's a nice swimming hole and rock water slide on the Nesowednehunk alongside the Tote Road.

rup said:

Wow. Roaring Brook sold out thru Sept. Looks like a re-think of Ktaadn this year.

Anyone have experience of motelling it from Millinocket, or where-ever???

Click to expand...

I stayed at the "Econo-Lodge" in Millinocket in sept of 2007. Plenty of parking, indoor pool, bar. No complaints about the hotel, but the pizza joint in town not too far away is worth avoiding. Here is my note from my TR.

"Got up 4 hours later and from Millinocket it took 35 minutes to drive to the Togue Pond Gate, 45 minutes in line, and 50 minutes on the tote road to get to the Marston Trailhead. The guard at the gate seemed genuinely appreciative when I told her that I had read the Park Rules."

Thanks for the link. I like to arrive well before official check-in time, and it would be great to know if my site will be empty before I arrive. I always check with the Ranger first, but it's so nice to get set up early in the day. Or at the least, have a place to park the car and do some hiking.
South Branch Pond for this year's vacation....who needs anything else?

Jim W

I keep hearing about the issue of getting into BSP. Above, there was mention of waiting 45 min in the line. Is that before the gate opens? or a rolling time frame?? What are the real chances of getting in for a day hike. Is that weekend or weekday dependent??

On a day-hike basis, considering the time to get into BSP, etc, etc, what are the odds of a successful RB-K-Ham-RB circuit in August???

Perhaps we'll go hit the Crockers / Saddleback / Abraham instead.

rup said:

I keep hearing about the issue of getting into BSP. Above, there was mention of waiting 45 min in the line. Is that before the gate opens? or a rolling time frame?? What are the real chances of getting in for a day hike. Is that weekend or weekday dependent??

On a day-hike basis, considering the time to get into BSP, etc, etc, what are the odds of a successful RB-K-Ham-RB circuit in August???

Perhaps we'll go hit the Crockers / Saddleback / Abraham instead.

Click to expand...

IIRC I got there about a half hour before the gate opened. There were perhaps fifty cars ahead of me when I got there and dozens more showed up by the time the line started moving.

Welcome to "Wilderness in the 21st Century!"

Seriously. If there is a limit, how many do they let into BSP?? Are the # of parking spots at RB limited??

rup said:

Seriously. If there is a limit, how many do they let into BSP?? Are the # of parking spots at RB limited??

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Yes, They only allow so many vehicles to each parking area and once they are full you have to go elsewhere.

Paradox said:

IIRC I got there about a half hour before the gate opened. There were perhaps fifty cars ahead of me when I got there and dozens more showed up by the time the line started moving.

Welcome to "Wilderness in the 21st Century!"

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My experience was similar. Got to the gate at 4:15 am on a Saturday in July, when the gate opening time was 5 am. . There were 8 cars in front of us. By 4:30, there were about 30 cars. My guess is that the numbers were reduced a bit that day, due to a "heat index" warning and a chance of severe thurnderstorms with hail.

Marty

Thanks for the link, arm.

When I make reservations I usually go to "opening day", it being the perfect excuse for a winter trip to the area. Last year I was on the edge of hypothermia standing in the cold before dawn ... but I'd rather wait in that line than at the gate.

With the availability of so many facilities I don't understand why anyone would go through the hassle of camping outside the park. With the availability and ease of reserving these days, not to mention the possibility of last minute cancellations, what's the objection to staying in the park? I recall a reasonable cancellation policy, too.

IMNSHO, the criticism and sarcasm directed at the park's regulations and procedures are unjustified. I consider the Park the premier outdoor destination in New England, and probably across a wider geography than that, and at far more reasonable cost than elsewhere.

... if you don't agree, then bag your peaks and get out!

One of the significant issues is that Baxter State Park is really not a "park" as such. It is a wilderness preserve that is managed under a completely seperate set of rules than a State of Maine Park. The rules were set by Baxter and once he died, they are pretty well cast in stone (he donated the park in such a way, that the state government can not change the rules, without a lot of lawsuits). One of the many restrictions in his rules is there can be no improvements made from what existed at the time of his death. There have been atempts in the past to make improvements, and generally these have been shot down in court by third parties. One of these attempts many years ago was to widen out the existing roads and "improve them", unfortunately that got shot down in court depsite the BSP commision supporting it. Another special rules is that Maine residents get priority over non residents and one seldom mentioned interpretation of that rule is that there are some reservable Maine day hiker parking spots at the choice traiheads.

The parking limitations at the trail heads are not artificial, they basically try to stuff in as many day use vehicles as they can at each trailhead while leaving room for people with campsite reservations. The option of parking along the side of the road outside the trailhead parking is not an option as the roads are about 1.5 to 2 cars wide with a ditch on either side. Cars can and do get stuck frequently when they attempt to park off to the side. Although the Roaring Brook road is a dead end, the Abol and Katahdin stream lots are on the main access road and it would be dangerous to block the road.

Even with the parking limitations, there are a lot of hikers on Katadin on a nice day. Its very obvious for those camping in the park when the initial surge of dayhikers make their run for the summit and usually from about 11 to 2 the summit is crowded.

Do note, that the parking limitations are only for three campgrounds, Abol, Katahdin Stream and Roaring Brook. I have never heard of any issues at the Marston trailhead or any of the other traiheads.

About the only option out there is to install a big parking lot at the gate and run shuttles to the trailheads, but there are also limitations on the size and width of vehicles going into the park so the shuttles would probably be restricted to vans. This would allow more day hikers to head to the summit but would also increase the crowding on the summit.

I have just shown up at the gate with no reservations and gotten either a cancellation or spot at another campground besides the three most popular ones listed above. Waiting at 4:15 AM is just silly.
You just need to be flexible...

So, I'm headed up there in Early October...LaCasa anyone?